MR HAMILTON ON THE PROSPECTS OF THE UNION. 291 



another individual in view than the one treated of, and it is, 

 perhaps, fraught with more truth than may at first sight 

 appear. The wielders of the pen and pencil seem to be fond 

 of portraying- their own likeness, and the narrative of most 

 travellers will be found stamped with their character. Truth 

 ought to be the first object with every writer of travels, 

 and is perhaps, like beauty, &quot; when unadorned, adorned the 

 most,&quot; and wherever it is lost sight of, the highest endow 

 ments may become prostituted in misleading others. It must, 

 however, be admitted, that the best intentioned writer may 

 become the dupe of appearances, resulting, perhaps, from his 

 own feelings and prejudices. There are also some writers 

 who aim at producing an effect on their readers unconnected 

 with the subject treated of, and in such cases a traveller s 

 narrative frequently becomes absolute fiction. I shall not 

 say in which class of travels &quot; Men and Manners in America&quot; 

 may be ranked, or whether parts of the work appertain to 

 different classes ; but I do not hesitate in saying, that the 

 author s conclusions did not always appear to me to be just or 

 consistent with sentiments expressed in other parts of the 

 work. This seemed to be particularly the case in some spe 

 ciously written paragraphs on the political prospects of the 

 Union, which many of the people in Britain, who read the 

 work, did not perhaps observe. 



&quot; In that city (New York) a separation is rapidly taking 

 place between the different orders of society. The operative 

 classes have already formed themselves into a society, under 

 the name of The WorkiesJ in direct opposition to those 

 who, more favoured by nature or fortune, enjoy the luxuries 

 of life without the necessity of manual labour. These people 

 make no secret of their demands, which, to do them justice, 

 are few and emphatic. They are published in the news 

 papers, and may be read on half the walls of New York. 

 Their first postulate is EQUAL AND UNIVERSAL EDUCATION. 

 It is false, they say, to maintain that there is at present no 

 privileged order, no practical aristocracy, in a country where 

 distinctions of education are permitted. That portion of the 

 population whom the necessity of manual labour cuts off from 



